Identity Theft Police Report

Filling Out An Identity Theft Police Report

One of the most important parts of returning your life to normal after your identity has been stolen is to fill out an identity theft police report. Filling out an identity theft police report will make the police aware of the theft and will allow them to charge the criminal with the crime when they are found and if your information can be linked to them in any way, they will be charged with the crime. Unless the police are aware that the identity theft has occurred, there is no chance that the criminal will ever be charged with the crime.

Why Is Filling Out The Report Important?

In many cases, any credit card companies that you contact to close accounts that were opened because of the identity theft will require you to fill out an identity theft police report before they will consider your claim to be valid. You may also be required to sign a waiver allowing the credit card company to prosecute the person that has opened the fraudulent account to the full extent of the law once they have been found so that the credit card company can recoup their losses. Identity theft fraud costs credit card companies and banks millions of dollars each year and allowing the criminals to be prosecuted in criminal court means that the company many be able to get back some of the money that they lost.

Once you have filled out an identity theft police report, chances are that you will not be held liable for the accounts that were opened fraudulently in your name. Many credit card agreements have a waiver that the person will not be held accountable in the event of the account being used by another person for criminal matters and will cancel the account at the request of the victim with very few questions asked. It is easy for the credit card company to determine whether a credit card is being used for fraudulent purchases because after the credit card has been issued, the criminal charges as many items to the credit card as possible in a short amount of time, maxing it out, and never make any payments on the bill for the account.

What Happens After You Fill Out The Report?

After you fill out the identity theft police report, there is little else that you will need to do until the criminal that was using your identity has been caught. If you have authorized the credit card company to pursue the conviction of the criminal, you probably won't even have to show up at the court for the trial of the criminal. In some cases, the criminal will be conducting their criminal operations in another state, which would make it difficult for the person to attend the court hearings, but in the majority of the cases, just filing an identity theft police report is enough to ensure that the criminal will be tried for the crime.